1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed towards an optical assembly and, in particular, an optical assembly capable of high speed data transmission.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As data rates increase, the need for components that can accommodate those data rates also increase. Further, there is great interest in providing low-cost transceiver components that support high data rates in small form-factor packages.
Coaxially arranged optical assemblies, such as the TO-56 packages for example, are common standard form-factors for housing optical network components. The TO-56 package allows for coupling, with an optical coupler, to an optical fiber communication line. This coaxial style packaging for optical coupling with optical fiber provides a cost effective solution for many transceiver applications. However, as data rates increase (especially beyond the 2.5 Gbps range), a new solution is needed to achieve high performance. As the higher performance is attained, however, the cost of producing high-performance optoelectronic packages can increase dramatically.
Several problems arise when high performance optoelectronic devices are assembled in small form-factor packages. For example, the thermal properties of the device become more problematic as high performance devices may generate more heat than is comfortably dissipated by a small package. Further, due to impedance mismatches and other electronic effects, high speed data signals may be degraded between, for example, a laser driver and a laser. Optical alignments also become more critical at higher data rates because loss of the small tolerances associated with high bandwidth optical transmission can become more of a problem. All of these issues can make it difficult to manufacture high performance optoelectronic devices at low cost.
Therefore, there is a need for transceiver components in small coaxial style package that both perform well at high data rates (for example above about 2.5 Gbps) and that are manufacturable at low cost.